Fires in Indonesia Cause Ecological Crisis

[sintax]

Fires in Indonesia Cause Ecological Crisis

Saturday August 13, 2005 12:46 PM

By IRWAN FIRDAUS

Associated Press Writer

KULIM, Indonesia (AP) - Palm oil farmers have used fire to clear their land of tall grass, shrubs and trees for years, without any idea that the noxious fumes caused problems in neighboring Malaysia or anywhere else.

<snip>

About 50 members of the opposition Democratic Action Party demonstrated noisily outside the Indonesian Embassy in Malaysia's main city of Kuala Lumpur on Friday, demanding compensation from Indonesia.

``We are breathing in poison every day. Things have never been this bad,'' DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng said.

The yellowish opaque haze reached its peak on Thursday when pollution levels exceeded hazardous levels over the Klang Valley, comprising Kuala Lumpur, the administrative capital Putrajaya, Port Klang and other cities.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5207719,00.html

[opihimoimoi]

1. Human have a propensity to PISS in their wells/ their Bath tubs/and

their food supply....sometimes, shit is added.

Why are we fucking up this One Planet we live on??


Think on the Big Picture and we see the solutions....

[Deja Q]

3. Why? In a word,

GREED

Mankind's great invention of money is our folly and our undoing.

So much the better. :-( Mankind has become too irresponsible with it; causing the great suffering of many (poverty) and exploitation of others.

[opihimoimoi]

5. and its cousin....Ignorance....

Come, we go eat, drink, laugh, smile, sing, learn.....

[hatrack]

2. But it's not affecting the stock market - and that's ALL that matters!

WHILE Malaysians rue the quality of air for the past few days, fund managers and analysts were still confident over the quality of the country’s shares. But investors are set to be more concerned if the choking haze persists over the next few weeks, a prolonged period that would hurt business and economic activity. The extremely poor air quality has already prompted the Government to declare emergency for two areas near Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

The stock market’s main indicator, the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index, has fallen 0.8 per cent this week, mostly due to concerns over surging oil prices and profit-taking after it hit a five-year high last week. Certain stocks could be affected, they said, like plantation firms, airlines, airport and port operators, as well as those involved in tourism.

But analysts said the impact could be temporary, and it is still too early to gauge how earnings would be affected as the haze has only been around for couple of days. “(It) depends very much on how long the haze lasts. If by next week we have clean air again, I doubt there will be much impact, but should the situation drag on for several weeks, then certain companies could be affected,” KLCS Asset Management Sdn Bhd assistant general manager Yong Yit Hin said.

EDIT

Head of research at AmSecurities Sdn Bhd Gan Kim Khoon dismissed concerns that the haze would weigh on the share market. “First of all we don’t know how long this will last. Unless this is going to last very long, then it will affect tourist arrivals, airlines, hotels and everything. But the API (Air Pollutant Index) has only stayed at this level for days. I don’t understand why people are reacting (so much),” Gan said.

EDIT

http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BT/Friday/Corpora...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x28795

And it's certainly not changing peoples' plans:

JAKARTA - Indonesian plans for a huge palm oil plantation in the heart of Borneo island could devastate some of the last remaining natural forests in Southeast Asia, a global environmental watchdog said on Friday.

WWF International said the planned plantation in Kalimantan, along the border with Malaysia, would be the world's biggest, covering an area of 1.8 million hectares (about 4.5 million acres), or equivalent to half the size of the Netherlands. It said the area chosen for the plantation was too high above sea level to be effectively cultivated.

"It doesn't make commercial or conservation sense to rip the forest out of The Heart of Borneo' to plant a crop which cannot grow in mountainous conditions," Mubariq Ahmad, chief executive director of WWF Indonesia, said in a statement. "We are calling on the Indonesian government to work only with serious and responsible palm oil investors," he said.

The WWF statement said Chinese investors were funding the project. Indonesian authorities could not be reached for immediate comment. However, local media in July reported plans to develop integrated palm oil plantation and processing facilities on Kalimantan which were projected to increase output by 2.7 million tonnes a year.

EDIT

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/3202...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x28779

[Dogmudgeon]

4. The Palm Oil farmers

They're dirt-poor, and the government keeps 'em that way.

They burn the the land because it's efficient and inexpensive. They get their crops to market on time and under budget and the government doesn't go in and crack heads open. And their families get to eat.

It's a completely sick cycle. Indonesia is no place I would want to be.

--p!